Decorative garment accessory

ABSTRACT

A decorative garment accessory which may take any number of different forms such as a belt, an accessory attachment for a belt, a shirt or blouse dickey, a sleeve, hem or other border finishing accessory or the like comprising an elongated, relatively narrow mounting strip having a plurality of spaced apart, generally parallel slots oriented generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the strip, and decorative elements detachably attached to the strip by means of a staple formed on the back of each decorative element projecting through the slots in the mounting strip and an elongated retainer passing through the staples on the side of the strip opposite the decorative elements.

United States Patent .[191

Santos 1 Jan. 9, 1973 s41 DECORATIVE GARMENT ACCESSORY 2,028,740 1/1936Devine ..161/40 [76] Inventor: Manuel V. Santos, 115 Ferry Street, a l?Newark, 07105 2:876:S72 3/1959 Holes ..40/158 [22] Filed: June 25, 1970Primary ExaminerWil1iam J. Van Balen PP N05 49,675 AssistantExaminer-Hen'ry F. Epstein Attorney-Popper, Bain, Bobis & Gilfillan [52]US. Cl. ..2/244, 161/39, 161/49,

161/109 [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. ..A41d 27/08 A decorative garmentaceessory which may take any Field Search 1, 244, number of differentforms such as a belt, an accessory 5 3 1 3 attachment for a belt, ashirt or blouse dickey, a 54 sleeve, hem or other border finishingaccessory or the like comprising an elongated, relatively narrowReferences Cited mounting strip having a plurality of spaced apart,generally parallel slots oriented generally transverse to UNITED STATESPATENTS the longitudinal'axis of the strip, and decorative ele-2,0s4,720 6/1937 Alexandre ..2/33& x mm detachably attached to the Stripy means of 2,244,287 6/1941 Carley ,,40 315 staple formed on the back ofeach decorative element 497,336 5/1893 Patterson 161/110 projectingthrough the slots in the mounting strip and 1,774,222 8/1930 Bermejoetal.. ..2/338 X an elongated retainer passing through the staples on 2,6 5/ Tinnerman 161/110 X the side of the strip opposite the decorativeelements. 2,849,821 9/1958 Doig ..l6l/l0 360,329 3/1887 Seel ..2/244 9Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED JAN 9 I975 FIG. 2

INVENTOR.

' MANUEL VALENTE SANTOS AT TORNE YS DECORATIVE GARMENT ACCESSORYBACKGROUND OF INVENTION Individuality is an essential characteristic ofmodern dress, particularly with the young. However, it is both costlyand difficult to purchase or make custom-styled garments. Thus, there isgreat need for means for individualizing otherwise undistinguished, massproduced garments.

While distinctive decorative accessories may be hand or machine sewn togarments by the owner, they require both considerable skill and time forapplication. Once stitched to the garment, the decorative accessorybecomes, for all practicable purposes, an integral part of the garment,difficult if not impossible to remove without damage or deterioration tothe garment. If styles change or the owner of the garment tires of thestyle generated by the decorative accessory, the garment is frequentlydiscarded long before the end of its functional life.

Therefore, it is among the objects and advantages of the presentinvention to provide a decorative garment accessory which may bedetachably applied to a garment by unskilled persons and which may beremoved, or altered in order to vary the style.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a decorativegarment accessory as aforesaid which is extremely inexpensive tomanufacture and which is durable against damage or deterioration.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide adecorative garment accessory as aforesaid which may be modified withoutbreaking stitches or other permanent attachments and which may beremoved altogether without damage to the garment.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION A decorative garment accessory comprising amounting member having at least one opening extending transverselytherethrough, a decorative element detachably attached to the mountingmember, a staple formed on one side of the decorative element defining apassage, the staple extending through the opening in the mountingmember, and a retainer extending through the passage defined by thestaple on the side of the mounting member opposite the decorativeelement.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION The objects and advantages aforesaidas well as other objects and advantages may be achieved by thedecorative garment accessory claimed herein, a preferred embodiment ofwhich is illustrated in the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a mounting member having a plurality ofdecorative accessories detachably mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the decorative garment accessory asshown in FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 therein;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged end elevational view of a decorative element;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the decorative element illustrated inFIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the mounting member illustrated in FIG. 1with decorative elements attached thereto.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the decorative garmentaccessory comprises a mounting member 11 to which at least one andpreferably a plurality of decorative elements 12 may be detachablyattached. In the drawings, the mounting member 11 is shown to be a thin,elongated, generally rectangular strip which may be fabricated 'of anyconvenient material which is aesthetically compatible with the garmentto which the strip is to be attached. Nevertheless, the mounting member11 may comprise the garment itself and need not be a separate detachableelement. However, the separate detachable mounting member 1 1 is notmerely aesthetically pleasing but also may provide structural strengthfor the attachment of a decorative element 12 under conditions in whichthe basic garment would not provide sufficient strength. Therefore, theuse of a mounting member 11 is functionally valuable under givenconditions and is not to be considered a mere matter of choice.

The mounting member 11 is provided with a plurality of slots 13, 13extending transversely therethrough. The slots 13 are generally parallelto each other and lie transverse to the longitudinal axis of themounting member 11.

The decorative elements 12 are shown in the drawings to be stars but maytake on any style desired. The particular design or style of thedecorative element 12 is a mere matter of choice.

The decorative element 12 is provided with a staple 14 formed on oneside thereof. The staple 14 projects generally perpendicular to theplane of the element 12 and defines an elongated passage 15 with thebody of the decorative element 12. The staple 14 is dimensioned to passthrough the slots 13 of the mounting member 11. In addition, the staples14 are sufficiently deep to project beneath the plane of the mountingmember 11 on the side opposite from the decorative element 12.

The respective decorative elements 12, 12 are secured to the mountingmember 11 by means of a retainer 16. In the drawings, the retainer 16 isillustrated as an elongated, generally rectangular, relatively thin,flexible strip 17. The strip 17 is dimensioned to slide through thepassage 15 defined by the staples 14 on the side of the mounting member11 opposite the decorative elements 12. The strip 17 may be fabricatedof any suitable material such as plastic or the like which is relativelyflexible but which nevertheless contains sufficient body to retain thestaples 14 against pulling back through the slots 13 in the mountingmember 1 1.

The retainer 16 may take any one of a number of forms. However, theretainer 16 should be compatible with the shape of the staples 14 on thedecorative elements 12 to pass through the passages 15. It is preferablethat the retainer 16 be in the form of a thin, relatively narrow strip11 for a number of reasons. Firstly, the strip configuration reducesbulk insuring that the entire decorative assembly is relatively flat.Moreover, the flat configuration with significant width cooperates withthe elongated passage 15 defined by the staples 14 to prevent accidentalrotation of the decorative elements 12. Still further, if the strip 17is made of a plastic material or a material having characteristics ofplastic being resilient and flexible having shape memory, it may beapplied by sliding along the plane of the mounting member 11 through thepassages 15. The

strip 17 is superior to a thread-like material which is so lacking inbody so as to have no shape memory. If the mounting member 1 l is to beemployed and is not to be permanently affixed to the garment, thegarment must contain slots which are in registration with the slots 13of the mounting member. In this arrangement, the staples project notonly through the slots 13 in the mounting member 11 but also cooperativeslots in the garment. The retainer 16 is then passed through thepassages 15 on the side of the garment opposite the mounting member 11and the decorative elements 12'. Of course, the mounting member 11 maybe sewn to the garment if desired.

If a separate mounting member 11 is not to be em- I ployed but rather isto be an integral part of the garment, the slots 13 are provided in thegarment. In order to employ the elongated retainer 16, the slots 13 mustbe spaced along a straight axis extending transversely thereto.

The decorative accessory may take the form ofa belt to which appropriateend fastening means are applied. However, the mounting member 11 may beattached to the belt or, if the mounting member 11 is to be dispensedwith as a separate element, the belt itself can be provided with slotsfor receiving the decorative elements 12.

The number and order as well as the appearance of the decorativeelements may be infinitely varied. in addition, the position of thedecorative elements on any particular garment may be widely varied. Forinstance, garments may be provided with slots 13 adapted to receive thestaples 14 of decorative elements 12 at a number of locations. When notin use, the slots 13, which are relatively small and whose edges maymeet, are inobtrusive and do not damage the appearance of the garment.In some instances, the slots 13 may be employed themselves as decorativeelements for a garment thereby appearing compatible with the overallstyle of the garment and nevertheless being functional to receive andretain decorative elements 12.

While the staples 14 on the decorative element 12 have been shown to beshallow and elongated, they may take on any convenient shape. However,the low, wide profile of the staples 14 illustrated in the drawings areparticularly valuable since they reduce bulk and depth of projection tolittle more than the thickness of the garment to which the decorativeelements 12 are applied. Moreover, when employed with a strip 17 whichis dimensioned just slightly more narrow than the width of the passage15, the decorative element 12 is secure against unintended rotationaldisplacement.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodimentof the invention. The component parts have been shown and described.They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similarfunction; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for thesaid components and may have actually been known or invented before thepresent invention.

I claim:

1. A decorative garment accessory comprising,

. a mounting member having at least one opening extending transverselytherethrough,

at least one decorative element detachably attached to the mountingmember, a staple formed on one side of the decorative element defining apassage, the staple extending through the opening in the mounting memberand a retainer slidably extending through the passage defined by thestaple on the side of the mounting member opposite the decorativeelement,

. A decorative garment accessory comprising the structure in accordancewith claim 1 in which I b. the staple is relatively shallow in depth andelona b. a plurality of openings in the mounting member spaced apartfrom each other along a path.

4. A decorative garment accessory comprising the structure in accordancewith claim 2 in which b. the said slots are shaped and dimensioned toclosely conform to and receive the said staple. A decorative garmentaccessory comprising, the structure in accordance with claim 1 and b. aplurality of openings in the mounting member spaced apart along a path,each opening being shaped and dimensioned to closely conform to andreceive the said staple,

. the staple being relatively shallow in depth and elongated in lengthdefining a generally conforming passage d. at least one decorativeelement being detachably attached to the mounting member at an opening,

. the retainer being relatively flexible and resilient and having across-sectional configuration and dimension closely conforming to thesaid configuration and dimension of the passage defined by the staple.

6. A decorative garment accessory comprising,

. the structure in accordance with claim 1 in which,

. the retainer is elongated sufficiently to extend through therespective passages of the staples of all decorative elementssimultaneously.

. A decorative garment accessory comprising,

the structure in accordance with claim 5 in which,

. the retainer is elongated sufficiently to extend through therespective passages of the staples of all decorative elementssimultaneously.

A decorative garment accessory comprising,

the structure in accordance with claim 3 in which,

the said path is generally straight.

A decorative garment accessory comprising,

the structure in accordance with claim 5 in which the said path isgenerally straight and the said openings extend generally transverse tothe axis of the path. I

1. A decorative garment accessory comprising, a. a mounting memberhaving at least one opening extending transversely therethrough, b. atleast one decorative element detachably attached to the mounting member,c. a staple formed on one side of the decorative element defining apassage, the staple extending through the opening in the mounting memberand d. a retainer slidably extending through the passage defined by thestaple on the side of the mounting member opposite the decorativeelement.
 2. A decorative garment accessory comprising a. the structurein accordance with claim 1 in which b. the staple is relatively shallowin depth and elongated in length, and c. the retainer is relativelyflexible and resilient and has a cross-sectional configuration anddimension closely conforming to the configuration and dimension of thepassage defined by the staple.
 3. A decorative garment accessorycomprising a. the structure in accordance with claim 1 and b. aplurality of openings in the mounting member spaced apart from eachother along a path.
 4. A decorative garment accessory comprising a. thestructure in accordance with claim 2 in which b. the saiD slots areshaped and dimensioned to closely conform to and receive the saidstaple.
 5. A decorative garment accessory comprising, a. the structurein accordance with claim 1 and b. a plurality of openings in themounting member spaced apart along a path, each opening being shaped anddimensioned to closely conform to and receive the said staple, c. thestaple being relatively shallow in depth and elongated in lengthdefining a generally conforming passage d. at least one decorativeelement being detachably attached to the mounting member at an opening,e. the retainer being relatively flexible and resilient and having across-sectional configuration and dimension closely conforming to thesaid configuration and dimension of the passage defined by the staple.6. A decorative garment accessory comprising, a. the structure inaccordance with claim 1 in which, b. the retainer is elongatedsufficiently to extend through the respective passages of the staples ofall decorative elements simultaneously.
 7. A decorative garmentaccessory comprising, a. the structure in accordance with claim 5 inwhich, b. the retainer is elongated sufficiently to extend through therespective passages of the staples of all decorative elementssimultaneously.
 8. A decorative garment accessory comprising, a. thestructure in accordance with claim 3 in which, b. the said path isgenerally straight.
 9. A decorative garment accessory comprising, a. thestructure in accordance with claim 5 in which b. the said path isgenerally straight and the said openings extend generally transverse tothe axis of the path.